Last May, when costume design Professor Deborah Landis was invited to conduct a workshop at a film school in Cuba, she had no idea what to expect. Read more...

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Deborah Landis, founding director of UCLA’s Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design, has worked on numerous films including “Animal House,” “Blues Brothers” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. (courtesy of Natasha Rubin)

Perhaps in conventional circumstances, when a princess goes to war against a general, we expect the one with the bow in her hair to lose. And so it was easy to dismiss 2009 UCLA alumna Dorothy Tong, the self-proclaimed "Cupcake Princess," when she competed on season two of Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." After all, the final competitor standing between her and victory was Bruce Zipes, a gruff New Yorker who wore camouflage and called himself "The General." Tong opened Cupcake and Cookie, an online bakery specializing in her trademark cookie-filled cupcakes and cupcake-filled cookies, only a month before appearing on the show. Read more...

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UCLA alumna Dorothy Tong is the founder of the Los Angeles-based bakery Cupcake and Cookie and the winner of the season two finale of “Cupcake Wars,” a reality show baking contest on the Food Network.

Diana Kohan literally ditched studying for a final to watch a fashion show. "I left my stuff in Kerckhoff during finals weeks and walked into Ackerman and I saw this insane runway show … with models and dresses and music and everything and I got really emotional," Kohan said. Disinterested in her psychology final, as well as school in general at the time, the UCLA alumna saw this fashion show put on by UCLA's Fashion and Student Trends club as the catharsis for her decision to pursue fashion as a career. Having grown up making her own clothes and taking sewing classes, Kohan was always interested in fashion, but didn't think of it as a possible career path until she discovered the fashion club at UCLA. Read more...

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The “Bobbi” dress from UCLA alumna Diana Kohan’s clothing line, Château Davana. (courtesy of Chateau Davana)

Having never been to Venice Beach, I didn't really know what to expect when I got there. Read more...

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The sun shines through the iconic Venice sign, recognizable to both residents and visitors, as pedestrians cross the street. Venice beach is home to multitudes of eccentric shops, medicinal marijuana stores, street performers and restaurants. This week, columnist Arit John took the Big Blue Bus to Venice Beach and explored what there is to do on a budget of less than $10.